1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides an isolated polynucleotide sequence and amino acid sequence of the bovine fertility associated antigen, methods of producing recombinant bovine FAA, and methods of increasing the stability of a sperm or fertility of a mammal.
2. Discussion of the Background
It has been well-documented that seminal fluid is a complex mixture consisting of secretions of the male accessory organs of reproduction: seminal vesicles (V.G.), prostate (P.G.), and bulbourethral glands (B. G. Shivaji et al., 1990). Of the seminal fluid constituents, some have been shown to inhibit (Davis, 1976; Lenz et al., 1982) and others to stimulate (Florman and First, 1988; Miller et al., 1990; Therien et al. 2001 [Biology of Reproduction 65:41-51, 2001]) sperm capacitation in vitro.
Seminal components that stimulate capacitation include a family of heparin-binding proteins (HBP) that bind to sperm ejaculation and convey heparin-induced capacitation (Miller, 1990). A murine monoclonal antibody (mAb), M1, generated by immunization with purified HBP, recognized three distinct proteins in immunoblots of bovine sperm extracts (Bellin et al., 1996, 1998). One of the three HBPs was apparent to be a single 31-kDa mass and was described as fertility-associated antigen (FAA; Bellin et al., 1998). The polynucleotide coding sequence for HBP designated as FAA, and the amino acid sequence of FAA, are distinctly different from other seminal proteins without or with heparin-binding activity described by others (e.g., Manjunanth et al., 1987; Shivaji et al., 1990; Calvete et al., 1996; Therien et al., 2001)